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    The Cochin Jewish Book Of Savouries And Veggie Dishes
    The Cochin Jewish Book Of Savouries And Veggie Dishes
    The Cochin Jewish Book Of Savouries And Veggie Dishes
    Ebook210 pages1 hour

    The Cochin Jewish Book Of Savouries And Veggie Dishes

    By Dr Essie Sassoon, Bala Menon and Kenny Salem

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    About this ebook

    The Cochinim (as the Jews from Cochin are called in Israel), love their food. Living for around 2000 years on the lush, monsoon-swept Malabar coast in the southwestern corner of India, this close-knit, orthodox community stayed true to the dietary rules of the Bible, adapting the abundant and exotic local produce to develop some wonderful dishes. Spices, especially the 3 Cs - cardamom, cinnamon and cumin - along with coconut, coriander and pepper dominate their cooking.The Cochin Jewish Book Of Savouries combines the culinary wisdom of over 30 members from the Cochini community, living in India, Israel, United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and Canada. This E-book is the first of a series of 5 cookbooks in the Spice & Kosher series related to Cochini cuisine. Kerala’s Jews or Cochinim make up one of the tiniest and most ancient of all Jewish communities in the Diaspora. Today, there are flourishing Cochini moshavim (settlements in Israel) - Nevatim and Shahar in the south, Aviezer, Mesilat Zion and Taoz near Jerusalem and Kfar Yuval in the far north. Cochinis also live in Binyamina, Petah Tikva, Rishon Le Zion, Ashdod, Jerusalem and Haifa.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherTamarind Tree Books Inc.
    Release dateMar 14, 2016
    ISBN9780991915729
    The Cochin Jewish Book Of Savouries And Veggie Dishes
    Author

    Dr Essie Sassoon

    Retired Gynaecologist. Born in the erstwhile Kingdom of Cochin in Kerala; was Specialist Associate Professor at Calicut Medical College, when she volunteered for duty in Israel during the Yom Kippur War, serving at Telashomer Hospital in Ramat Gan; Later became Deputy Head of Department at Barzilai Medical Centre in Ashkelon, where she now lives. Twice honoured for meritorious service, Dr. Sassoon now devotes her time to her hobbies - cooking, sports and folk dancing.

    Read more from Dr Essie Sassoon

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      Book preview

      The Cochin Jewish Book Of Savouries And Veggie Dishes - Dr Essie Sassoon

      Introduction

      The Cochinim (as the Jews from Cochin are called in Israel), love their food. Living for around 2000 years, in the erstwhile Kingdom of Cochin, on the lush, monsoon-swept Malabar Coast in the southwestern corner of India, this close-knit, orthodox community stayed true to the dietary rules of the Bible, adapting the abundant and exotic local produce to develop some wonderful dishes.

      Spices, especially the 3 Cs - cardamom, cinnamon and cumin - along with coconut, coriander and pepper dominate their cooking. The Cochin Jewish Book Of Savouries & Veggie Dishes combines the culinary wisdom of over 30 members from the Cochini community, living in India, Israel, United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and Canada.

      Some of the recipes are similar to the cuisine of Kerala Hindus, Christians and Muslims, among whom the Cochin Jews lived in close proximity for generations. The Cochinim, however, ensured that their food always remained kosher. This E-book is the first of a series of 4 cookbooks in the Spice & Kosher series related to Cochini cuisine.

      Kerala’s Jews or Cochinim make up one of the tiniest and most ancient of all Jewish communities in the Diaspora. Most of them settled in Israel after the founding of the country in 1948. Today, there are flourishing Cochini moshavim (settlements) in Israel - Nevatim and Shahar in the southern Negev desert, Aviezer, Mesilat Zion and Taoz near Jerusalem and Kfar Yuval in the far north. Cochinis also live in Binyamina, Petah Tikva, Rishon Le Zion, Ashdod, Jerusalem and Haifa.

      The recipes here are not listed in alphabetical order - but arranged with the factoids that accompany some of them.

      As they say in Hebrew: Be Te’avon – Enjoy!

      Upma or Uppumavu

      (Fluffed, Spiced Semolina)

      The upma is an excellent porridge-like breakfast dish, easy to prepare, tasty, filling and nutritious. Vegetables like peas, carrots, potatoes, cauliflower, cabbage, tomatoes, capsicum (bell peppers) and fried peanuts or cashews can be added to make variants of this dish. It can be eaten alone or with any curry, steamed bananas or just a sprinkling of sugar. Serves 6.

      Ingredients:

      2 cups semolina (sooji)

      1 large onion, chopped fine

      1" piece of ginger, chopped fine

      4 green chillies, chopped

      3 dried red chillies, crushed

      1/2 cup grated coconut

      1 tsp black gram (urad dhal or split peas)

      1/2 tsp mustard seeds

      1 sprig curry leaves

      6 tbsp clarified butter or vegetable oil

      Salt, as needed

      Water

      Directions:

      Lightly roast the semolina in a non-stick pan. Stir continuously so that it does not brown. Remove from heat and keep aside. Heat the clarified butter or oil in another pan and splutter mustard seeds. (Clarified butter enhances the aroma and taste.)

      Add onions, chillies and curry leaves and sauté until onions become translucent. (If you want the upma to have a light yellow colour, add a pinch of turmeric). Add ginger, urad dhal and fry for 2 more minutes. Add 2 cups of water, salt and let boil. Reduce heat.

      Add the roasted semolina, stirring slowly to prevent clumping. Sprinkle coconut flakes and mix. Cover the pan and cook on low heat for about 5 minutes. The semolina will absorb all the water and turn a little fluffy, much like couscous. Pour a few tablespoons of water if it seems dry and heat for 2 more minutes.

      Kuzhallappam/Coil Appam

      (Cigar Shaped Snack)

      Ora Farchy of Houston, Texas, remembers her mother Rebecca making this savoury snack in Moshav Shahar in southern Israel. Her mother learnt to make it in the Jewish settlements of Paravur/Chennamangalam and most Cochini Jews consider this a traditional, centuries-old snack.

      The Syrian Christians of Kerala claim it is their main snack for festive events and Sojo Joshua (who has a popular food blog remembers "my mom making this in large quantities during New year, Christmas and every month in between... I think it is a Syrian Christian snack as it is more popular in Christian-dominated areas like Kottayam. And I have heard from my grandmother that achappam, kuzhalappam, avalose unda etc. also have Syrian Christian roots." (Personal communication. Joshua’s blog is at http://sojosmasala.blogspot.ca)

      Note: All these savouries are everyday snacks in Cochin Jewish homes and Cochinis say they were the earlier settlers. Makes about 20 kuzhallappams.

      Ingredients:

      5 cups flour

      1/3 cup broken grain (rice)

      1 1/2 tsp salt

      2 eggs

      2 tsp sugar

      5 tsp vegetable oil

      1 1/4 cups sesame seed, roasted and ground

      1/3 cup coconut, grated

      1 onion, chopped/mashed

      1/3 tsp turmeric

      1 tsp mustard seeds, ground

      1 tsp caraway seeds

      1/2 tsp cumin

      2 1/4 cups of Water

      3 tsp sesame seeds, whole

      Directions:

      In a wok, roast the grated coconut until golden brown. Set aside.

      Add a little water and knead the flour into dough. Mix all ingredients into the dough.

      With a rolling pin flatten the dough to a thin paper-like layer and with a cup or can cut out circles.

      Roll the circles into cigar shape and close edges tight. Fry in a deep pan until the coil appam turns brown.

      Courtesy: Ora Farchy, Houston, Texas.

      Aloo Bonda / Potato Vada

      (Cochini Potato Fritters)

      This is a popular teatime delicacy in all the four south Indian states of Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, with each claiming it as their own. In Mumbai, this snack is a popular street food used in the making of the Vada Paav, in which a croquette is smashed within two toasted pieces of bread and eaten with onions and chilli sauce. Makes about 30 croquettes.

      Ingredients:

      Filling:

      1.5 kg potatoes

      Salt / kosher salt to taste

      2 tsp fresh lime juice

      1/4 cup fresh coriander/cilantro

      1 tsp turmeric powder

      1 tsp fresh, grated ginger

      4 green chillies

      Coating:

      3 cups chickpea flour (besan) / lentil flour

      1/4 cup rice flour

      4 tsp cornstarch

      Salt / kosher salt to taste

      3/4 tsp baking soda

      1/2 tsp turmeric powder

      1 tsp garam masala (See Spices section)

      Pinch of asafoetida

      1 tsp cayenne pepper

      Water as needed

      Vegetable/peanut oil for frying

      Directions:

      Peel potatoes, wash and clean in running water and place in pan with water. Add salt and boil till fork tender.

      Mash the potatoes while still warm. Combine the warm, mashed potatoes with salt, lime juice, turmeric powder, chopped chillies, cilantro and ginger.

      In a large bowl, combine the flours and add the spices and baking powder. Add enough water to make a thick batter without lumps. Make the mashed potato mixture into small lemon sized balls. Allow the batter to rest for 30 minutes and keep aside.

      Heat oil till medium hot. Dip the balls into the batter and fry till golden brown. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels.

      Serve hot or at room temperature with tamarind, coconut or mint chutney.

      Courtesy: Ajeeth Janardhanan, Executive Chef, Brunton Boatyard, Fort Kochi.

      Cheeppappam/Chipappam

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